WE ARE TAKING ACTION. The Conservatives have protected NHS spending. There are now more A&E consultants, more doctors, more hospital nurses, and more midwives than under Labour. We have invested millions extra in A&E to tackle these winter pressures. And we are taking the difficult decisions to tackle the long-term pressures: reforming Labour’s GP contract to bring back named, family doctors for the over-75s, to help keep them safe and well.
LAST WINTER WAS BAD. BUT SOME LABOUR WINTERS WERE WORSE. In 2008/09, sadly there were 36,450 “excess winter deaths” for example. This is more than we saw last year (link). The point is: this is a number that does change, often depending on the harshness of the winter.
LAST YEAR WAS A FREEZING WINTER, BUT THE LONG-TERM TREND IS DOWN. Last winter was particularly cold, with very high levels of influenza and the coldest month of March since 1962. But the long-term trend is down. In 1950/51 for example there were more than triple the number of excess deaths that we see today (link).